Whats the fastest you have gone in a boat?

About 80 knots in a bass boat with a [get this] a tricked out 140HP Chrysler OB.
 
Flutter,
I know that lesson - don't anchor on or near a bend in a river! You just never know who might com flying around it, and you can't do anything but jump if you have to - really scary feeling!
Kindredspirits - Big go-fasts are fun, but the thrill wears off fast. I once had a 36' Sleek Condor with 3-235 V-6's that would run mid 60's. Not super fast, but in 10 foot seas, it was a real kick. After about 30 mins of the eyes watering and yelling 2" from your co-pilots ear, it gets old, especially if its cold. I remember the first time I took it under the Gate - 6-8 foot swells, boat completely out of the water jumping from wave-to-wave - what a rush. After not more than 15 minutes of that, we went below, and an entire cooler of beer and soft drinke had exploded from the abuse - the cooler over flowing with foam!!! I had no idea how much pounding there was in doing that. My legs were like jelly, I was shaking, and my heart was racing. So much fum, but that was another time - you're only young, immortal, and indestructable one time!
What good stories!
Audrey II - What happened to the poor ski - looks bad!
Jim
 
Audrey II - What happened to the poor ski - looks bad!

Gas leak caused it to blow up at the dock right where you see it. I smelled the fuel as I walk up to it so I opened up the hatch and seat aired it out for about ten minutes then no longer smelled or saw anything in the bilge it had been sitting a while I figured it was do to the heat under the cover. It seamed safe so I closed it back up and tapped the starter to see if the battery was still good and the rest is a little blurry. I was told the seat flew about 150' straight up. The rub rail that you see in the picture whipped out and hit me in the chest as if someone hit me with a baseball bat full swing. I was holding the handlebar when the seat flew up and it tried to take my arm with it my thumb got messed up pretty bad from that. It was ugly thank God there where people around to call for help or I would have been in trouble.
The lesson learned is that we become used to the smell of gas very quickly and you can not trust your nose. If you smell fumes and then then seem to go away, walk away for a few minutes get some fresh air then check again. I could have very easily been killed in that explosion a just got lucky to only receive the injuries that I did, nothing to bad.
So let us all learn from may mistake, this is also why I bought a diesel boat.
As for the Jetski it was a total loss.

Let us all have a healthy and safe Season and may it start soon!
 
Wow! You are really lucky you were not hurt worse. Gas leaks are so scary - I had a tank leak on my 3270 - the boat I have now. I shut it down, had 80 gallons of gas pumped out, lots of safe fans, batts off, and felt like I had fixed the problem. It was a small seam leak - only about a TBS per day, but enough to smell it. Started to work on getting the tank out, and when the crew came to work on it, they said the OTHER tank was leaking too! Another 80 gallons of $4.00/gal gas later, and both tanks were empty. 3 Months later I had installed 2 new Poly tanks, all new gas lines, new fuel filter set-up, new intake manifolds with new down-draft weber carbs - everything! It was a lot of work, but now I know its safe and the boat runs great - I gan probably break 12 mph now!! I need to re-prop because those carbs and the electronic ign upped the HP of those little Volvo 4-bangers quiet a bit and I can over-rev easily. I generally cruise slow - about 6-7 mph so they will last another 10 years...

Advice -don't even think about starting your boat if you smell gas!

Jim
 
54.1 MPH

Speedometer.jpg
 
It isn't the amount of fuel leaking, it is the accumulation of gas fumes which cause explosions. And the fume/oxygen mixture has to hit a certain saturation point, then BOOOOOM!

As noted above, if you smell fuel and then the smell goes away, do NOT assume the fumes are gone!

Always assume the worst and take all necessary precautions around gas fumes. Older boats may not have adequate bilge ventilation. Something a surveyor can determine if you're thinking of buying an older boat, especially the wooden ones!
 
I had my old boat (Larson 206 SEi) up to 58.8 mph on the GPS. I couldn't quite get it to 60.

I took it in to Larson Marine a couple of years ago to figure out why it lost a substantial amount of power. It was so weak that it could barely get on plane with just me in the boat, but not with the family. They worked on it, improved it somewhat and mentioned it did 43 mph when they sea trialed it. I didn't realize that was all it was capable of, and took it back in once I tried it out and found it was still way down on power. Nobody believed me when I told them it would go nearly 60. Once they found the real problem (exhaust flapper had come loose and was restricting the exhaust), everybody was surprised.
 
About 120mph around 20 years ago. It was a friend of mine's boat and I don't recall the builder anymore. It was some custom builder in So Cal and was a 24 foot flat bottom V-Drive. It got to that speed really fast. It had a 454 with dual turbo's and intercoolers dyno'd over 1000hp. He had a tank put in at his cabin to store aviation fuel that he ran in it. It was a lot of fun.

Today about 20 knots in the Navigator, 45 mph in the ski boat and about 20 mph in the dink.
 
flutterby
HAVE YOU TALKED TO MANY WHO HAVE HAD THE EXCESS FUME PROBLEM BUILD UP, I BET THERE IS NOT TO MANY AROUND STILL
 
Audrey II
Thanks for the heads up!!! I too have a go fast Sea Doo (69 mph)... Very good advice about walking away to let the shnozola reaclimate then return to the scene to see and smell...

Greg
 
Although not technically a boat I had a ride on one of these back in the early 80's. They were a 4 man hovercraft used to transport lightkeepers and technicians to and from the lighthouses along the St. Lawrence river. IIRC they were powered by a 302 Ford v8. Back then there was no GPS so no way to tell how fast we were going but was estimated at about 80 MPH full out. Any chop over 2' and it turned into a wild ride. They were also hard to control and at speed took the whole width of the river to turn 180 degs.

Small_Hover_Toronto_2a.jpg
 
quote:
Originally posted by rubyray

flutterby
HAVE YOU TALKED TO MANY WHO HAVE HAD THE EXCESS FUME PROBLEM BUILD UP, I BET THERE IS NOT TO MANY AROUND STILL
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It was a frequent topic at several of my CG Aux classes and meetings. Every spring I hear about one or two older boats which explode or catch fire in the Delta. Almost always they are older boats which have passive bilge ventilation and the owners are new to that boat and usually new to boating in general.

Some are killed and some manage to swim away.
 
I've read all these posts and they are all pretty impressive....However, I have you all beat. The fastest I have ever been in a boat was one Sunday afternoon with a three couples on board. We were coming south on the Sacramento near the Isleton Bridge when I found the immediate need to use the restroom. I had taken the portable head out of my boat a couple years before to make room for more fishing gear....mistake? In any event as I tried to obey the no wak zones and all I found I was in real trouble. That last couple miles to Vieira's was indeed the fastest I have ever gone in my boat...barely made it.

DBH
 
I drove a drag hydro for 4 years from 87 thru 91
drove in the 130mph 8 second range
The joke always was everyone has gone 100 until they ran it through the lights.
After a while I had to ask myself if the money and chance of getting hurt was a bit selfish for the family obligations. I now enjoy cruising in the 20 knot range.
 
quote:
Originally posted by deltabighat

I've read all these posts and they are all pretty impressive....However, I have you all beat. The fastest I have ever been in a boat was one Sunday afternoon with a three couples on board. We were coming south on the Sacramento near the Isleton Bridge when I found the immediate need to use the restroom. I had taken the portable head out of my boat a couple years before to make room for more fishing gear....mistake? In any event as I tried to obey the no wak zones and all I found I was in real trouble. That last couple miles to Vieira's was indeed the fastest I have ever gone in my boat...barely made it.

DBH

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You should have just told everyone that you were a little hot and needed to jump in the water for a little bit. ;)
 
Years ago, Hal Schell hooked me up with Arneson for a ride in his flame thrower while they were at Tower Park. After putting on the helmet and squeezing into the boat, he idled out under the bridge and hit throttle. WOW! I don't think we broke 80, but to me it felt like 200! My ride was over in a few minutes. I'll never forget it though.

Back to reality in my own boats, fastest speed for me has been about 55. That's fast enough for the Delta. Actually, too fast in most spots.
 
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